MARTIN LIPTON

Paul Over?

A little gift

Watch as Raheem Sterling stuns sister by buying her a house for her birthday

Shakey said: “There are no free games, but we are not here to make up the numbers - we are going to give it a right good go.

“We need fire in their bellies and cool, smart heads. I have no problem with them being over-aroused because we are more than capable of getting a result.

“I want players to enjoy playing football, to play with a smile on their faces and to express themselves.

“But I also know that when players have lost a game, they will tell you they don’t enjoy it.”

The feeling around the place is that the narrow, 1-0 defeat in the Vicente Calderon last Wednesday kept them in the tie.

EPA

Antoine Griezmann and Atletico Madrid players in training

That Griezmann’s dodgy first-half penalty kept the scoreline down and gives Leicester a chance of creating some more history in the second leg.

The turnaround time is short, with the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday sandwiched in between these two hum-dingers against Diego Simeone’s side.

For the past couple of days Shakey has been in the classroom with his players, trawling through videos to spot some of Atletico’s weaknesses.

There are not many.

Atleti won easily at the weekend, leaving Griezmann resting on the bench for a routine, 3-0 victory over Osasuna in La Liga.

Getty Images

Griezmann scored the only goal in the first leg - a controversial penalty

Shakey added: “We have not had much time to prepare since the Palace game and a lot of our work has been in the classroom instead of out on the grass.

“But we are ready physically, mentally and tactically. Of course we have a plan in place.

“Offensively we need to create more, we have to get a goal back. We also need to be mindful of players the ilk of Griezmann. We have to deny them space because they are a very good counter-attacking team.

“We are at home, we need to be more forceful than we were, but respectful of the opposition as well.

“We also know that Atletico do not concede goals, especially in the Champions League.”

This season they have kept clean sheets against PSV Endhoven, Rostov and Bayern Munich in the group stage, along with Bayer Leverkusen and the first leg against Leicester in the knockout rounds.

It is a formidable challenge, but Shakey has no fears.

PA:Press Association

Shakespeare has said his team have not had as much time as he'd like to prepare, but they are ready

He knows that the King Power will play a part this evening, that those raucous Foxes fans will create some uncertainty among Atletico’s players.

They survived a difficult first leg in Spain, beaten by Griezmann’s penalty after Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson ruled Marc Albrighton’s challenge was inside the area.

Eriksson got that wrong. Badly wrong.

Shakey added: “There is no point in me harping on about it because everybody has to be focused for this game and the players don’t want to hear me going on about it.

“We have to get our own house in order. We have had some special nights here and let’s make it another special one.

“If we can do that, then we can let the officials take care of the rest of it.”

Getty Images

Riyad Mahrez, Cristian Fuchs and Leonardo Ulloa in training

Atletico are stellar opposition, a notch up from the Sevilla side who wilted as the game wore on at the King Power last month.

Shakey will make a late decision on Wes Morgan, who scored the opener in the 2-0 victory against Sevilla, after his return to fitness.

The captain, the leader, the Leicester legend, must play.

Shakespeare needs his top players to perform, for Riyad Mahrez to make the magic happen once again from the right and for Jamie Vardy to sniff out the opener.

It is a night for match-winners, for the main men to come to the table to take Leicester through to the semi-finals.

Do that and he can start thinking about another Champions League game.

Craig Shakespeare and Christian Fuchs on Leicester's second leg with Atletico Madrid